51 percent of enterprises have a formal digital transformation strategy, according to a survey by CenturyLink and 451 Research.
23 percent are working on siloed digital projects, but without an overarching strategy. 19 percent are still in the planning stages. 7 percent currently have no ongoing digital transformation strategy.
The survey polled executives in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
42 percent of study respondents are expecting major disruption as the deployment of new digital technologies continues to play out in their respective fields. This will continue to change the competitive dynamics of their markets in the process.
Bill Hurley, chief marketing officer for CenturyLink, said: “The complexities associated with digital transformation can result in numerous roadblocks. Moving to a superior network and employing agile cloud technologies are keys to simplifying the transformation process. This approach is a foundational element of success in digital transformation.”
60 percent of enterprises are increasing their IT spending levels to achieve the significant benefits of digital transformation.
Executives at organizations worldwide commonly identify with four key pillars of competitive differentiation to target with internal digital transformation initiatives.
These four pillars are:
Improve the level of business agility – 53 percent
Better manage business risk – 49 percent
Improve operational efficiency – 41 percent
Improve the internal or external customer experience – 41 percent
The majority of enterprises realize full digital transformation will take time to implement, as more than 40 percent of respondents estimate this will take three to five years.
59 percent of those with a digital transformation strategy already in place rated their organization as more capable and faster to innovate, with 18 percent feeling their organization was slow to innovate.
Barriers for digital transformations
Inflexible IT systems and the need for agility – 35 percent
Organizational silos and the need to uncouple legacy practices – 33 percent
Risk and security, including the need for assured data custody – 31 percent
Other significant barriers recognized by respondents were potential failure to secure sensitive data (30 percent); lack of available funding, capital or budget (30 percent); and challenges of getting multiple service providers/partners working together (27 percent).
